Now and then I get the urge to further encourage hikers/trail joggers/stairway enthusiasts to trek the Presidio's Batteries to Bluffs Trail.

It's got 473 or so steps, which makes it San Francisco's longest stairway (and my own favorite stairway in a park). If you haven't yet experienced this trail, GO!

You can see part of it when you look down from the new Pacific Overlook along Lincoln Blvd. The east trailhead is nearby (first pic). An added treat is the View Point Overlook with its bench and bridgeview (130 steps along from the east trailhead). Second pic: view down to Marshall's Beach from View Point. A bit further along is a separate trail that descends to this secluded beach (49 or so additional steps: third pic) - and back up again to continue your workout.

This 0.7-mile up-n-downer climbs steeply on the west side to the top of Battery Crosby (next two: westside). Down from the battery are 16 or so steps to a sandy trail that curls up to Lincoln.

At Lincoln you've got a choice of two more long stairways. Cross the street at the crosswalk to the trailhead for the Connector Trail (208 steps) that winds to Immigrant Point Overlook and the Rob Hill Campground area, the park's highest point. Next pic: the trail to the left (west) will take you out to the Baker Beach Apartments; the steps continue up. The next one is of the trailhead sign at Immigrant Point Overlook.

The other nearby stairway swoops steeply down from Lincoln: the infamous Sand Ladder with somewhere between 200 and 300 steps (a very rough estimate). It's difficult to get an exact count because the shifting sands blow over the log steps partially/completely. I'll feel around with a foot for buried steps, sometimes finding them, but sometimes just rocks or more sand. This one will take you to Baker Beach: last three pics. Trudged back from the beach in order to continue on to the Connector Trail. As I climbed back to Lincoln saw a large group hiking down the Connector.

While sitting on the bench (with the dedication plaque that says "Happy Trails") a little way up from Lincoln on the Connector Trail, saw the same group standing atop Battery Crosby in the distance. By the time I'd reached Immigrant Point Overlook, they'd evidently gone on to the Batteries to Bluffs. Down from Rob Hill Campground onto a short trail that leads to the Fort Scott 'hood, decided this time to circle around back to my starting place at Golden Gate Overlook.